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After claiming he is an extraterrestrial from the planet 'K-PAX', 1,000 light years away in the Lyra constellation, prot (uncapitalized and pronounced with a long O) is committed to the Psychiatric Institute of Manhattan. There, psychiatrist Dr. Mark Powell attempts to cure him of his apparent delusions. However, prot is unwavering in his ability to provide cogent answers to questions about himself, K-PAX, and its civilizations. His medical examination only reinforces his story, as prot can see ultraviolet light and he is completely resistant to the effects of thorazine. Powell introduces him to a group of astrophysicists who are befuddled when prot displays a level of knowledge about his claimed star system that was unknown to them.

prot also wins over the other patients at the Institute, each of whom believes unquestioningly that he is indeed from K-PAX. prot, who claims to have journeyed to Earth by means of "light-travel", explains that he can take one person with him when he returns. Thereafter, most of the patients at the Institute ask prot to take them with him.

Upon learning that many of his patients expect to leave Earth on July 27, Powell confronts prot, who explains that it is a predetermined date. However, Powell believes this to be a significant date in prot's life, a day on which he suffered a severe psychological trauma. Powell decides to subject prot to regression hypnosis, which works well. Using information gained from these sessions, Powell figures out that prot may simply be an alter ego of Robert Porter, a man from New Mexico who attempted suicide in 1996 after his wife and child were murdered. Powell tries to confront prot with this knowledge, but prot's reaction is one of bemusement, and he cryptically tells Powell that he hopes he will take good care of Robert now that he has found him.

On July 27 as the hospital staff watch, the camera in prot's room cuts to static at the precise time prot said he would leave Earth. Powell finds Porter lying on the floor in his room, catatonic, prot having apparently left Porter's body for the light travel back to K-PAX. The other patients do not recognize Robert, as he is being wheeled out of the room. In addition, one of them is missing: Bess, a woman who had remained mute since her home was destroyed in a fire and who had been among the patients that asked to go to K-PAX with prot. She is never found. Powell continues to take care of the catatonic Porter and tells him about how the patients he helped have gone on to live normal lives again, but Robert does not respond. Powell is left with no absolute answer as to whether prot was in fact an alien entity or just a coping mechanism of the traumatized Porter, but seems far from convinced that Porter's behavior was a delusion.

The final scene's voiceover is prot explaining to Powell that the people of K-PAX have discovered that our universe will repeat its events again and again, so the mistakes we make will be repeated forever. prot encourages Powell to make this time count, as it is the only chance we have. Inspired, Powell begins a new, better life by reconciling with his estranged son.

K-PAX received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 41% based on 139 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1 out of 10 with the web site's consensus stating "For those who have seen One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or Starman, K-PAX may not hold anything new. The movie works best as a showcase for Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges."[2] The film has a score of 49/100 on Metacritic based on 31 reviews indicating "mixed or average reviews".[3]

Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times, "I admired how the movie tantalized us with possibilities and allowed the doctor and patient to talk sensibly, if strangely, about the difference between the delusional and that which is simply very unlikely.”[4]A. O. Scott, wrote in The New York Times, "K-PAX is a draggy, earnest exercise in pseudo-spiritual uplift, recycling romantic hokum about extra-terrestrial life and mental illness with wide-eyed sincerity."[5] At Variety, Robert Koehler said, "'K-PAX' gives off a great deal of light but generates little heat in a drama that aspires to cosmic themes but ends up with plain, comforting homilies."[6] Claudia Puig at USA Today concluded, "Besides being saddled with the year's worst title [...] this misguided movie is shackled by its own overreaching sense of importance and foggy earnestness."[7]

K-PAX was a box office disappointment making only $65,001,485 worldwide off a $68 million production budget, including $50,338,485 in North America and $14,663,000 internationally.[1]

Argentinian director Eliseo Subiela claimed that K-Pax plagiarized his 1986 film Man Facing Southeast; he said of K-Pax, "it's a copy, but a good quality one".[8] Subsequently, Gene Brewer and others connected with K-PAX were sued in November 2001. The complaint was later withdrawn as the trial stretched over time and Subiela didn't have enough money to keep the litigation going. Subiela claimed until his death in late 2016 that his film was plagiarized by the makers of K-PAX. Brewer went on to release a memoir exploring his inspiration for the books, called Creating K-PAX or Are You Sure You Want to Be a Writer?[9]